The Case Against Gabryszak (Updatedx3)

Here’s the notice of claim filed against Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak by an attorney representing three of the Western New York Democrat’s former female staffers who allege he created a hostile work environment by making repeated comments of a sexual nature.

The women claim they complained to top aides in Gabryszak’s office, and in one case, the assemblyman’s communications director, Annalise Freeling, was told by her supervisor, Adam Locher, that “Dennis could get carried away from time to time,” and if she didn’t like his behavior, she could “always look for another job.”

As reported by the Times Union this morning, two other women are expected to come forward in the near future with similar allegations against the assemblyman.

The three women who have made this claim are seeking loss of future and current income and health benefits, as well as compensation (an unnamed amount) for their emotional distress and mental “anguish” due to the assemblyman’s “outrageous and inappropriate behavior.”

The Assembly writ large is named, but no allegations are made – unlike in past sexual harassment cases – against the speaker, Sheldon Silver, for knowing about this situation or failing to do something about it.

UPDATE: Silver spokesman Mike Whyland tells Capital’s Jimmy Vielkind that the speaker had no knowledge of the claims against Gabryszak and the trio of aides who are makign this allegations never filed a formal complaint about his behavior or brought this issue to the attention of the Ethics Committee.

UPDATE2: Whyland told me the speaker’s office will be forwarding whatever it receives from the state attorney general’s office to the Ethics Committee, which will be opening a formal investigation into this matter. The committee, which is already working on Manhattan Assemblyman Micah Kellner’s sexual harassment case, will likely hire an outside investigator, in keeping with a policy the speaker instituted in May in response to criticism of his handling of the sexual harassment allegations brought against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

UPDATE3: Here’s Whyland’s official statement:

“The allegations contained in the Times-Union against Assemblymember Gabryszak are very disturbing and will immediately be referred to the ethics committee for a full investigation. The Assembly is committed to a safe and respectful work environment for all its employees and we take all allegations very seriously.”